Storm dropping rain on Central Coast as it heads to L.A. region

A storm system was expected to bring a chance of rain to downtown Los Angeles and up to a quarter inch of rain in mountain areas beginning late Monday, the Weather Service said.

A storm system was expected to bring a chance of rain to downtown Los Angeles and up to a quarter inch of rain in mountain areas beginning late Monday, the Weather Service said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Robert J. Lopez

A storm system was dropping rain across the Central Coast on Monday evening as it headed toward the Los Angeles area, where wet and cooler weather was expected to last for several days, according to forecasters.

A band of heavy showers was dropping up to 1/2 inch of rain per hour in San Luis Obispo County and kicking up southerly winds from 30 mph to 40 mph, the National Weather Service said.

The front was expected to weaken by the time it blows across the Los Angeles area between 10 p.m. Monday and 4 a.m. Tuesday, the Weather Service said. Rainfall totals will probably vary from around 0.10 of an inch in downtown Los Angeles and other inland areas to 0.25 of an inch in the San Gabriel Mountains, said Carol Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

She said another wave of wet and cold weather is expected between late Tuesday and early Wednesday by a system that generated in the southern Gulf of Alaska. That front could bring up to 0.33 of an inch of rain in the mountains and about 0.10 in the the Los Angeles basin.

"It's a not a huge soaker, but we'll take it," Smith said.

Snow levels are expected to drop to 4,500 feet in the mountains. The system could bring a dusting of snow along the 5 Freeway in the Grapevine area. Smith advised motorists to be prepared and bring chains if they have them.